Indians Prospect Insider

Clint Frazier had three hits and knocked in three runs as the Captains went on to beat Fort Wayne by a final of 8-7. Fraizer fell a homer shy of the cycle, however he also scored two runs. The Captains have won three straight ballgames.

One night after the Mahoning Valley Scrappers pounded out ten hits on their way to a 9-1 win, the Williamsport Crosscutters pitching staff would completely dominate. The Crosscutters held the Scrappers to just six hits before rallying to tie the game in the 7th then winning on a walk off single in the 9th for a 2-1 win.

Dominating pitching helped the Frederick Keys protect an early lead Thursday as they defeated the Carolina Mudcats 5-0 to avoid the series sweep. Brenden Webb gave Fredrick the early advantage in the top of the second, crushing a solo homerun to right off Carolina starter Adam Plutko as the Keys went up 1-0.

Coming off a save on Wednesday night, Akron reliever Enosil Tejeda stepped to the mound and registered his second save in as many days as the RubberDucks defeated the Altoona Curve, 4-3, on Thursday night at Canal Park. The outing marks Tejeda's third-straight relief appearance in which he was awarded a save and was his sixth overall. The righty pitched the final inning, walked one and struck out one.

Down a run in the ninth, the Columbus Clippers (72-61) put up five runs in the ninth to turn back the Louisville Bats (64-69) 9-6 at Louisville Slugger Field on Thursday night. In a back-and-forth battle, the Clippers loaded the bases with one out in the ninth down 5-4 off of reliever Fabio Castillo (2-1, 2.50). Justin Freeman replaced Castillo and got Francisco Lindor to hit a sacrifice fly to deep center, tying the game. It was the 20th blown save by the Louisville pitching staff.

This weekly feature piece here at the IBI specifically looks at some of the prospects that have maybe not had as much attention they deserve for a variety of reasons but who are interesting or are coming onto the scene. This week the IBI's Tony Lastoria decided to focus in on Anderson Polanco who is a lower level left-handed pitcher who has been on the prospect periphery for a little while but is starting to make some noise and establish himself a little more firmly on the radar.

The Lake County Captains are nearing the final stretch of the 2014 season. Last week, the team went 5-2, putting them 5 1/2 games out of first in the second half standings and 2 1/2 games behind the South Bend Silver Hawks.
The team is still 10 games away from elimintation, so the next two weeks will be incredibly interesting. Both the Captains and Silver Hawks have been winning as of late, the Captains posting a 7-3 record over their last 10 games and the Silver Hawks going 6-4.

The Indians are in the midst of an important nine game stretch of games. So many times this season the team has followed an emotional high (Tuesday’s comeback win) with a letdown. That wasn’t the case in this game as TJ House worked around a lot of traffic to keep the Twins off the board and the Indians got some key hits throughout the lineup. The IBI's Michael Goodman shares his second thoughts on the game...

Now. We always want things now. Better sooner than later. Yet, when it comes to prospects, it is often about the long game. D'vone McClure's stock has fallen after two subpar seasons in Arizona, yet the outfielder is still only 20 years old. Dace Kime may be a bit older than McClure, but the 22-year-old is only in his first full professional season. These players are not supposed to be finished products, and looking between the lines, there are positive signs for both. Join Jim Piascik as he recaps McClure and Kime's performances and the rest of the action from throughout the organization as he takes you Around the Farm.

It was a busy night with regard to news around MLB. Close to home, first baseman/outfielder Nick Swisher's season officially ended when he underwent arthroscopic surgery to both knees on Wednesday. Angels pitcher Garrett Richards suffered an unfortunate injury and looks to be lost for the season. The IBI's Jay Frierson recaps the news....

With the country’s attention aimed just minutes up the road in South Williamsport for the Little League World Series, the Mahoning Valley Scrappers jumped all over the Williamsport Crosscutters and picked up their third straight win at Bowman Field with a 9-1 win.

Over the past few weeks and upcoming weeks the IBI's Tony Lastoria will continue to post pieces on all of the players that the Indians drafted and signed from the 2014 Draft. The Indians signed 30 players in total and he will have a tons of comments on each and every player from Indians Amateur Scouting Director Brad Grant as well as other insights as well. In today's fourth edition of this piece he looks at Grant Hockin, Simeon Lucas, Luke Eubank, Gian Paul Gonzalez and Drake Roberts.

Even though the week was bookended by victories, the Carolina Mudcats had another difficult week and are running out of time to make up ground in their chase to make the playoffs. The IBI's Zachary Francis chimes in with his weekly notebook and recaps the week that was for the Mudcats...

Jerrud Sabourin and Ryan Merritt each had another big night for High-A Carolina and four Short-A Mahoning Valley All Stars were all in action in the NY-Penn All Star game on Tuesday night. The IBI's Arthur Kinney recaps all of these performances and more as he goes Around the Farm to recap all of the action in the Indians system....

Old Man Atch will be back in the Cleveland bullpen for 2015, and possibly beyond. In this MLB News and Notes segment, the IBI's Andy Nichols will be giving occasional reports on the latest news and rumors throughout the MLB. Today's piece focuses on the Atchison extension, a new role for Ubaldo Jimenez, and more.

In a rain-shortened 8.5 inning game the Altoona Curve beat the Akron RubberDucks, 7-2. Akron gave up 12 hits in the loss as Altoona pulled away with five runs in the final three frames after the game was in a 2-2 deadlock. Will Roberts got the no decision before Giovanni Soto took the loss after giving up two runs in two innings.

Available IBI Books

The 2014 Cleveland Indians Baseball Insider book featuring the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is now available. Also, previous editions from 2008-2012 are also available at a discounted rate. Just click on the book image for more information. Thanks again for all the support!